01 January, 2016

2015 GotY - Part 2

Well, let's start at the top.

Bloodborne
When announced as Project Beast, I was hyped right away, and I wasn't disappointed. The graphics, gameplay, story, and voice acting were amazing. As for the music itself? Well, it was above, and beyond, any previous Souls game, now coined Soulsborne to tie together the games. At first, I wasn't too excited about the frenetic combat, as I enjoy a Paladin type class in Souls games, which has a shield usually in front of me. Going in to Bloodborne, I instantly loved the combat. I adapted to it easily, and it made sense with the style of the world. The way the environment presented itself, and the actions of the enemies, gave a no shield, parry/dodge type combat a very natural feel. The expansion, the Old Hunters, just added to the story, and enhanced the game in every way.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
I had been waiting for this game for ages! I'm a big fan of the first two, and the books as well, so when the third part was finally announced, I was very happy. It didn't let me down, either. The music was incredible, the graphics were great, but not amazing... Well, at least not the characters. The scenery is just breathtaking. The gameplay/combat was really well done, and the story was interesting. I'm very sad that they replaced dice poker with Gwent... The worst card game in history. I still hate that mini game so much. There is only one DLC out for it right now, and it was all right, but not fantastic.

Until Dawn
I had no idea what this game was when I clicked it on the Boomerang library, but it was a 'horror' game I hadn't played yet, so I was interested. Within the week I had acquired the plat. It's not a matter of it being hard or easy, but there are many paths to take. It's time consuming, and the story was interesting. The graphics weren't amazing, but they were great, especially the scenery, and the antagonists in the game. At times the character models looked weird, and a bit flimsy, but overall the game kept me interested in the lore, more so than the individual characters. The actual protagonists you play... Boring as hell, and entirely superficial. As for the music... I cannot remember any of the music from the game, so take that as you will.

Soma
I'm still not settled with this yet. For my thoughts on it, click here.

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
I only got this game as a holiday gift, so I haven't had a lot of time to put into it, but the time has been well spent. I haven't felt this enthused about an AC game since AC2 came out. Even with Black Flag, which was superb, it still felt like another AC game. Syndicate felt like I was playing something fresh. The story intrigues me, the characters are enjoyable, the gameplay is pretty much perfected by this point, and the new mechanics are wonderful. The graphics are so well done, especially in the construction of the city. The music is phenomenal as usual. I'm still working on beating it, and there is a DLC I haven't played yet, but I've put so much time into it already that I feel I can put it on the list.

Fallout 4
Nearing on 300 hours now, and I only just beat it recently. Right off the bat, it's graphics aren't the best ever, and it wasn't really expected to be. The graphics are still good, especially with the landscapes. Characters have always looked a little weird in Fallout anyway. I was so happy that my character finally had a voice, so that was nice, though I know many people didn't like the voiced protagonist. So many side-quests, quests, companions, levels, perks, places... I still haven't found everywhere, and I'm still enjoying it. The music is all right, but the oldies are still the best part of the music. Unfortunately, there are a lot of songs from Fallout 3, so it didn't really feel so fresh, and I got bored of listening to the radio pretty quickly.

So where do we go on from here? It was a hard bet for me, and really the biggest choice was between Bloodborne, Fallout 4, and SOMA, surprisingly. After a lot of debate with myself, I would have to give my 2015 Game of the Year to... Bloodborne. Those who know me might say this isn't so much of a surprise, considering how fanatical I am about Souls games, and the lore therein, but it wasn't easy. It was pretty damn tough, but overall not only do I have the most time in Bloodborne, but I feel it was the best for checking off all my requirements in a game. The best graphics, the best music, the best gameplay, the best story, the best dlc (that I played), and the best cooperative interaction.